


11 all nighter (Pipers)

by ifreet



Series: ficmas [12]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-04
Updated: 2010-01-04
Packaged: 2017-10-12 09:44:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifreet/pseuds/ifreet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>sisterofdream prompted Eliot + Hardison + ninja. Which hopefully = awesome.<br/>Two takes, both gen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	11 all nighter (Pipers)

The job at hand had required deeper than usual backgrounds, nearly continuous electronic monitoring, and a still-upcoming tweak of the target's security system, so it was no wonder Hardison was running on pure caffeine and adrenaline. And clearly he was buzzing too hard to drive, so Eliot had ended up taking over van-moving duties. He didn't mind that.

"See, all superheros -- and supervillains -- can be divided into one of the two camps." The non-stop talking, however, was wearing thin. "Batman, ninja, obviously. The Hulk is more a pirate. Spiderman, ninja. Superman, and I know you're going to argue with me--" Eliot really, really wasn't "-- pirate. No way a ninja would consider the Clark Kent disguise up to spec."

He'd stopped nodding along awhile back, but Hardison seemed beyond the need for feedback at this point. Shoot, he was almost beyond the need to take a breath.

"Then I got to thinking, and we're practically superheros, right? Fighting for the little guy, doing the Robin Hood thing. So I started trying to figure out where we fit on the ninja-pirate continuum. Sophie's actually the hardest to place. I think ninja? Because she is a master of disguise and all, but then again, she'd be all over pirate fashion.

"Nate is definitely a pirate. It's not enough that we get the money or the payback -- he wants the target to _know_ we got 'em. Every job, Nate's like, 'time to hoist the flag, skull and crossbones, baby.'

"Parker is a total ninja. Climbing through vents, rappelling down walls, sneaking into places no human was ever meant to sneak -- ninja. She even dresses the part sometimes, that all black cat burglar outfit?" Hardison actually paused for a few blessed seconds of silence, to contemplate Parker in her professional gear. Sadly, he shook himself back out of it.

"Now, you, you're a pirate."

Eliot could not believe he was having this conversation, and yet he couldn't let that pass. "A pirate? Ninja are highly trained martial artists, and _I'm_ a pirate?"

"Well, yeah," Hardison said seriously. "You're not exactly sneaky. You're more, boom, there you are. People underestimate you, but it's not like they don't see you coming."

"I hate you."

Hardison nodded sagely. "That's 'cause I'm a ninja."

Eliot strangled the sound of his frustration and checked his watch again. Hours yet before they could knock off and Hardison could get some sleep. He just had to not kill him before then.  


***  


"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Alec said as several figures in black sprang out of hiding, surrounding them. Eliot didn't reply, shifting his stance to a pose that Alec had come to identify as 'imminent mayhem.' He just hoped Eliot was up to protecting the both of them, because there was no way the cheap tricks Eliot had taught him were going to stand up against freaking ninjas.

Then Eliot paused, lifting slightly out of his ready postion. "Tanaka, is that you?"

The ninja in question also rose up a small, but apparently significant inch. "Eliot?"

Eliot grinned. "I thought that was you! What the hell are you doing here?"

Tanaka pulled down his mask to reveal an answering smile and responded in rapid Japanese. Alec knew enough to recognize it, but unless the conversation turned towards Gundams, demons or demonic samurai (possible, he supposed, because -- ninja!), the little he knew was unlikely to be particularly useful.

Which is why he was utterly baffled when they left the warehouse en masse to head for the nearest restaurant, where everyone ordered drinks and continued the discussion. He didn't ask; he just ordered a milkshake and went with Eliot's flow.


End file.
